Package



5. H. RYBERG July 3, 1945.

PACKAGE Filed Aug. 22, 1942 IN V EN TOR.

ATTORNEYS Patented July 3, 1945 memes Gustaf Henrik Ryberg, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to Ryco Laboratories, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application August 22, 1942, Serial No. 455,794 1 Claim. (01. 20.6-63.2)

This invention relates to a new composite package and article in the nature of a first aid and surgical dressing intended and adapted for giving prompt relief .and protection from painful and infected wounds and burns and adapted to be readily carried in the pocket or in first aid kits.

The injuries which require treatment to relieve pain and prevent infection occur all too frequently where medical aid is not available and may not be available for a considerable time. Such injuries include those occasioned by automobile accidents, or accidents in industrial plants or in the home, as well as wartime and peacetime injuries. Such injuries are often painful and frequently become infected unless promptly treated.

The improved package of the present invention has been designed and is intended to enable immediate relief from pain to be obtained and at the same time to give protection against infection even under the most primitive conditions. The package of the present invention is a handy package and one easy to apply without outside help. It is well adapted for carrying in the pocket or in a first aid kit by soldiers, sailors or civilians who are liable to become wounded or burned at times and under conditions where help from doctors or nurses may be remote and where the period Of waiting for treatment may be painful and may be accompanied by infection of a serious character and resulting complications.

The new package includes a wet, absorbent pad of sterile gauze or lint or similar absorbent material thoroughly soaked in a solution containing an efllcient local, non-irritating anesthetic, together with germicides and sulfanilamide or a sulfa drug of the sulfanilamide type in efficient concentration, the solution containing glycerin and being strongly hygroscopic and compatible with body fluids and readily blending therewith.

This wet pad is sealed in an impervious, outer, transparent envelope which is secured to an adhesive backing extending beyond the envelope and protected by a layer of fabric which can read ily be removed from the adhesive. The Wet pad, hermetically sealed in an impervious envelope, preserves its wetness indefinitely and is immediately ready for use by cutting the envelope and removing the pad. The pad is applied to the wound or burn and then covered by the envelope which preserves the pads wetness and keeps the liquid in contact with the wound or burn while the adhesive secured to the envelope serves to secure and hold the pad in place without the need of added bandaging.

The outer envelope, which contains the wet pad, is advantageously made from a material such as Pliofllm, the trade name of a transparent, thin, flexible sheet of rubber hydrochloride which is impervious to air, water or oil and to the hygroscopic composition with which the wet pad is saturated, and which can be readily sealed hermetically, e. g., by heat sealing. Other impervious materials serving the same purpose as Pliofilm may be similarly used. Such an outer envelope, when sealed, protects the wet pad contained therein from the action of air or water and from infection or contamination and keeps the pad moist and ready for use without the loss or dilution of the liquid composition of the wet pad. The outer envelope also protects the wet pad so that the liquid of the pad does not escape and the package can be readily carried in the pocket or in first aid kits with the wet pad ready for immediate use by removal of the pad from the envelope.

The outer envelope is somewhat larger than the wet pad contained therein and this envelope is intended for use, when the wet pad is removed from it and applied to a wound or burn, as a covering layer for the pad. Its impermeability insures that the constituents of the wet pad will be maintained where they can be efiective when the pad is applied to a wound or burn and prevents the drawing away of the constituents of the wet pad by dry bandages, which, if applied directly over a wet pad, would absorb liquid constituents therefrom and interfere with the desired maintenance of the wet pad in an adequate wet state in contact with the tissues.

The wet medical pad or surgical sponge or bandage is of suil'icient size and thickness to absorb blood or other body fluid from the wound or injury so that the liquid composition of the wet pad may blend with body fluids either in the pad itself or in the tissues to which the pad is applied.

The impervious envelope which contains the wet pad is itself secured to adhesive material such as a layer of adhesive fabric with adhesive on one side and which is larger in size than the envelope to provide adhesive for securing the envelope to the body and holding it in place as a covering for the wet pad when applied to a wound or burn.

Different sulfa drugs of the sulfanilamide type or mixtures of such drugs can be used, together with an efiicient local, non-irritating anesthetic and advantageously also with added germicides and healing constituents such as oxyquinoline sulfate and boroglycerin.

An advantageous composition for saturating the pad is a solutionin glycerin of the following ingredients in substantially the following proportions by weight:

. Parts Sulfanilamide V v I 7 Chlorbutanol Oxyquinoune sulfate 2 Boroglycerin 21 Glycerin (as solvent) 65 The invention will be further describedin connection with the accompan drawing illustrating certain improvements thereof but it is intended and will be understood that the invention is illustrated thereby but is not limited thereto.

In the accompanying drawing,

Fig. 1 shows one form of package or surgical dressing, with part of the protective fabric folded back to illustrate the construction;

pad of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 7 shows the pad of Fig. 6 removed from its envelope and unfolded to give a pad of larger size for applying to a wound or burn.

In the modification of Fig. 1 an adhesive fa'bnc I having an adhesive surface 2 has applied thereto and secured thereto by the adhesive a transparent envelope 3 containing the wet pad 4. An outer protective layer of fabric shown. as made up of two overlapping pieces 5 and 6 covers the envelope and the surrounding portions of the adhesive backing.

. When it is desired to use the dressing the outer protective layers of fabric 5 and 6 are removed as illustrated in Fig. 3. The envelope is cut, e. g., 'as illustrated at the line I in Fig. 3, so that the wet pad can be removed from the envelope. The envelope may be provided with a. cutting wire or string (not illustrated) so that it may be cut, as illustrated at line 1, without the use of a cutting tool.

In Fig. 4 the arm of a patient is shown with the wet pad 4 applied directly to the injury. The impervious envelope is then placed over the pad and the adhesive backing secures the pad and envelope to the wrist as illustrated in Fig. 4.

While the adhesive fabric is shown in Figs. 1 to 3 as extending beyond the envelope at both the ends and the sides, it may extend beyond the envelope at the ends without extending beyond the envelope at the sides. Or, as illustrated, it may secure the envelope on all sides to prevent escape of any of the liquid of the wet pad.

In the modified structure shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7 the pad is a double pad or a folded pad, folded so that when it is unfolded it has double the size which it has in the envelope. Such a pad, when removed from the envelope and unfolded may have a length equal to the width of the adhesive backing as illustrated in Fig. 7 so that it will cover a larger wound than the pad in its unfolded condition.

The new package or surgical bandage of the present invention is always ready for use, it is always wet, and it is anesthetic as well as antiseptic. The sealed, impervious envelope preserves the wetness of the pad indefinitely. The use of the envelope with its accompanying adhesive backing as a covering for the pad when applied to a wound or burn keeps the dressing moist so that. it does not stick to the tissues and can be easily removed without injury to the tissues.

The method of application of the dressing is simple The covering for the adhesive material is removed, the envelope is cut and the wet pad removed therefrom. The pad is applied to the wound or burn, and the envelope and adhesive are then applied to hold the pad in place without the need of added bandage. The liquid with which the wet pad is saturated is kept where it will be effective and where this liquid can blend with body fluids and exert the desired protective action from pain and infection.

With a liquid composition in the pad which is a solution of the anesthetic, antiseptic and healing ingredients dissolved in glycerin as the solvent, this liquid is strongly hygroscopic and attracts and is attracted by body fluids and readily penetrates into the tissues to which the pad is applied. The hygroscopic and surface tension reducing properties of the composition result ill drawing body fluids from the wound or burn aml penetration of the wound or burn by the composition.

The dressings are valuable for treating not only wounds but also burns where it is important to allay the pain and draw water from the burn, thereby preventing blistering and enhancing the healing process while at the same time anesthetizing the burned part of the body and protecting it against infection. 7

The new packages of the present invention are accordingly advantageous for use generally where ,injuries are encountered, both in the home and in fabric is removed and when the pad i removed are advantageous additions to first aid kits, in the home and in industrial plants as well as in shipyards, camps, ambulances, automobiles, fire departments, police stations, etc., providing ready and convenient and effective treatment of injuries and protection against pain and infection.

It will thus be seen that the present invention provides an improved package of a kind which can be readily carried and utilized, which retains its efiicacy until used, and which can advantageously be used to give prompt relief from pain and protection from infection under conditions where it'is important and desirable to obtain uch relief and protection and particularly where medical aid is not available or may not be available for considerable periods of time.

I claim:

A package comprising an hermetically sealed, impervious envelope containing a wet medical pad saturated with liquid medicament, an adhesive backing secured to the back of the envelope and extending beyond the envelope and a protective and removable fabriccoating for such extended portions of the adhesive backing, the pad being maintained in a wet state by theimpervious envelope prior to use, and the envelope and adhesive fabric being adapted, when the protective from the envelope and applied as ajdressing, to keep the dressing wet and from sticking to the tissues so that it can easily be removed without injury thereto.

GUSTAF HENRIK RYBERG. 

